So, a few weeks ago our washing machine broke. Broke in that our laundry room was flooded with water. E.V.E.R.Y.W.H.E.R.E. Dave and I, being the handy-people we are, called to have someone come look at it and get a quote.

The guy showed up. Looked for a few minutes and informed us that the sealant was cracked and needed to be replaced. 15 minutes of work=$160.

We decided to get a second opinion.

The next guy showed up. Looked at it for a few seconds and informed us that a mosquito must have peed on the floor. Kill the mosquito=$0. We went with the second opinion. (Whose name happens to be Izak.)

Izak right before he pounced on the guilty mosquito

(Protecting himself (if you know what I mean) and others from temper tantrum-throwing moms)

I could see what was coming. A big, huge, fat, ugly melt down. I decided the best thing to be done would be to get the guilty party to go lay down and take a nap quickly before the volcano erupted that was beginning to boil inside.

So, that is exactly what I did.

I marched my grumpy, fit-throwing self straight to my bedroom.

Laid down on my bed.

And closed my eyes.

At 10:30 in the morning.

A few minutes later I heard little feet shuffling into my room. "I tired too Mommy." And Landon slipped himself into the sleeping bag that has permanently taken up residence next to my bed.

An hour and a half later Izak comes into the room. "Mommy, can I be all done with quiet time?" I look at the clock. 12:15pm. I tell Izak to go get ready for preschool. "Preschool?! At night?! I don't have preschool at night!"

(Because "normally" nap time is closely followed by dinner time which is closely followed by bed time. Except for times such as these. You know, when I'm about to freakishly freak out on my children for just being children.)

Me=Awesomeness

I was in such a hurry to get the kids in the car after soccer practice so Dave and I could get to our separate church meetings. It's always such an ordeal....have to pack up the dinner we ate while watching Izak's practice, pack up the toys to entertain the other three children (2 that we babysit) during practice, and pack all the children into the car.

By the time I actually pull out of the parking spot I feel like I deserve an award for making it out of there with all my children in one piece without yelling at everyone (I didn't say I don't yell, I said I don't yell at everyone-did you catch that?).

So, you can imagine how helpful it was when, while I'm loading all our crap stuff, and a lady in a car waiting starts getting all impatient asking if I'm going to leave soon.

I politely inform her that I am leaving soon, but that it's going to take a little while.

She then proceeds to raise her voice explaining that she's holding up traffic waiting for me to leave.

And then I explain that I have four children that I am trying to get into the car and that she is welcome to either wait until I'm done loading everyone/everything, or she is welcome to move on and look for another spot.

At that point all I hear is "RUDE, RUDE, RUDE....blah, blah, blah (seriously, I couldn't tell what she was saying. Thankfully.)..." So, I just turned away and continued trying to load my children into the car.

And then a friend of mine walked up and said, "Hey, is that lady yelling at you cause she wants you to close the passenger door so she can get into that spot next to you?" And then I look over. And sure enough, the spot next to me is empty. And the door is wide open.

Yep. I'm awesome like that.

Real Women Change Shocks

It was the beginning of another hot, windy, dry day on the farm. I looked at my watch. Barely 9am, though we had already been working for a while now; if you can call laying in the fields working. My two sisters and I decided to go sit in the truck for a while. We noticed my brother had left the keys in the ignition. I tried to convince my older sister to drive, but she was smarter than me, and refused.

It was the summer of my 14th birthday. I quickly got behind the wheel and after a few attempts (it was a standrad), the truck was moving. As I looked in the rear-view mirror, I saw my brother yelling and running towards us. I found the gas pedal quickly. And so we were off.

My sisters and I were crammed like sardines into the little white pick-up; flying over the bumps on the dirt/rock roads of the farm. The fields stretched on for miles. And so we rode on for a few more minutes.

As I drove the truck up the pivot road I saw my brother coming towards us. I slammed on the brakes just before hitting the white cement at the base of the pivot. As soon as the engine was turned off, we flung open the doors, and ran as fast as we could for the potato field. Once we were a little distance off, we quickly layed down in between the rows and rows of potatoes in hopes my brother couldn't find/see us.

No sooner had we layed down than we found we were being attacked by dirt clods. Huge, sometimes rocky, always hard, dirt clods. One after another. Landing within feet of where we were laying. In the distance we could hear my brother yelling about our stupidity for taking the truck and how we were going to get it when dad found out. And then, finally, there was silence. The bombing of dirt clods had ceased....

My dad did find out. He said that I went so fast and hard over so many bumps on the dirt road that I ruined the shocks.

My consequence: to change the shocks in the truck.

I'll Never Know

The question just keeps haunting me....

Why?

Why did he forget....

That he was loved by me and so many others.

Why didn't he remembered what he himself wrote to me...

"I know that Jesus Chirst lives and is our Redeemer"?

Why didn't he understand that there is always hope...

That anything can change if we but make it happen?

Why wouldn't he respond these past few months....

When I would email him to see how he was doing?

And I just keep thinking....

I wish.

I wish I could hug him just one last time....

And remind him that he was one of my very dearest friends.

I wish I could help him see the person I saw....

Who was such an amazing person in so many ways.

I wish he had the understanding and hope that I have....

That anything we are not content with in our lives, we have the power to change.

But he is gone.

And I will forever miss him.

I Like Big Butts and I Cannot Lie...

+

=

$600

Translation: Dave sat on our laptop and it cost lots of moolah to fix it.

All In a Days Work

Izak was throwing a fit because he didn't want to take a family picture....

Dave accidentally hurt Izak during the second take of the family picture....

Landon then hurt Dave, for hurting Izak, during the family picture....

And that's how Christmas family pictures roll around this household...

Did I mention earlier that day Landon bit Dave's nose in the middle of the choir singing (probably Peace on Earth) at church?